"Maybe when I was in my early 20s and very idealistic, just shopping for me and the boys, I would not shop at Walmart due to political or social reasons," she said.

But once her first daughter was born, things changed. "I loosened my standards as to what I thought was socially acceptable for the best deal."

If Amazon's planned acquisition of Whole Foods, announced Friday, makes shopping there more convenient, she'd be willing to switch allegiances, particularly if the move means more conveniences, such as affordable grocery delivery.

A service called Shipt already delivers groceries from Whole Food and Publix using personal shoppers, but Ruehl said she found the subscription fees high.

But she has no problem ordering from Amazon, which has no subscription fees unless customers sign up for Amazon Prime, a $100 membership which offers access to free shipping, discounts and streaming music and video.

AmazonFresh, the company's venture into fresh grocery sales, does not have services in Asheville.

A disruptive force

AmazonFresh Pickup locations allow Amazon Prime members to order groceries online, make an appointment to pick them up and then drive through and have the grocery bags loaded into their trunk by an Amazon employee.

Could Asheville soon see a similar model? John Swann, co-founder of the Greenlife Grocery store that was bought by Whole Foods in 2010, declined to speculate.

But he said Amazon is clearly a disruptive force. "It's already putting a lot of economic strain on the supermarkets, which you’re seeing with the tumbling stocks this morning.”

In Friday trading following Amazon's announced entry into the food-selling business, shares of Walmart tumbled more than 4 percent, making it the biggest loser in the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average.

Swann said the fact that Walmart shares were down was particularly indicative of Amazon's power to shake up the grocery business. "Walmart is the 800-pound gorilla, and most things just can't move it."

Swann is now director of operations for Hickory Nut Gap, helping manage the farm's sprawling operations, which include a farm store and restaurant, a multitude of events and a thriving wholesale company with its warehouse in Biltmore Village.

He wondered how Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods would impact smaller local vendors, though he imagined larger local producers like might be poised to grow with the company.

Organics for the masses?

Whole Foods has helped a number of local businesses grow, including Hickory Nut Gap.

Hickory Nut Gap farmer Jamie Ager received financial help to meet Whole Foods' requirements when it bought Greenlife, where he'd long been a vendor.

In January, Ager said Whole Foods ranked among HNG's top-two single sources of income. "They're such a beast," he said. "They just have so many customers."

But the bigger a business gets, the more centralized it has to be, and Swann wondered whether Amazon's Whole Foods takeover would make local procurement a challenge.

But he also said the move has the potential to bring more natural and organic food to the masses.

"While Whole Foods is known for its higher prices and limited availability, Amazon goes everywhere," he said. "It opens the horizon for availability for people who do not live in the niche markets Whole Foods has its stores in."

"But I always think about how these mergers affect workers," she said. "And when I think of Amazon, I think of automation.

These companies need to think about how automation leads to job loss and how their decisions affect our working communities."

For her, Amazon's move to buy Whole Foods highlights the continued need for worker representation.

"In the absence of government regulation and traditional Union structures, workers need to advocate for themselves because no one else is going to."

As for changes to the core concept of Whole Foods, that remains to be seen.

But Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, suggested in a statement Friday that a wholesale overhaul was not in the cards.

“Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy,” he said “Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades – they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue.”

John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO, said he agreed to the deal because it is "an opportunity to maximize value" for the company's shareholders. He will remain the company's CEO.